WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 2/23/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 23-26

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BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL  |  BIG TEN STANDINGS  |  BIG TEN SCHEDULE & RESULTS

2023-24 BIG TEN STATISTICS (XML)  |  2023-24 BIG TEN STATISTICS (PDF) |  2023-24 BIG TEN MEDIA GUIDE

NCAA STATISTICS  |  NATIONAL TOP 25 POLLS (FEB. 19-20)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 23

  • HISTORY. MADE. All-session tickets are sold out for the 2024 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, marking the first sellout in the history of the event. More than 109,000 fans are expected to attend the five-day event, scheduled for March 6-10 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The Target Center is home to the four-time WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx and the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. The tournament returns to the Twin Cities for the second time after a record-setting event last year.

  • The Big Ten Conference has six games this weekend with Saturday’s trio being streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information). Sunday has three contests, starting with Illinois heading to No. 4 Iowa for a 1 p.m. outing on FS1. Maryland travels to No. 2 Ohio State and Wisconsin hosts Purdue for a Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App) doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET, respectively.

  • Less than two weeks remain in what has been a competitive regular season in the Big Ten. Ohio State continues to hold the top spot in the standings at 14-1, followed closely by Indiana (13-3) and Iowa (12-3).

  • No. 14/16 Indiana improved to 14-0 at home this season with a thrilling 86-69 upset of No. 4 Iowa. With the win, Mackenzie Holmes became the program’s all-time winningest player with 119 career victories.

  • Maryland held Rutgers to four points in the second quarter, equaling its second-fewest points allowed in a quarter in a Big Ten game in school history.

  • Mary Ashley Stevenson became the 10th freshman in Purdue history to score 260 points and grab 125 rebounds during the Boilermakers’ outing versus Michigan State.

  • Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder were named to the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List on Wednesday. The honor is annually presented to the most outstanding head coach who achieves tremendous on-court success.

  • Cailtin Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history, had 31 points against Indiana to bring her career total to 3,593 points. She is just 75 points shy of passing Pete Maravich, the all-time scoring leader in college basketball history at 3,667 points.

  • The Big Ten is tied for the top spot among Division I conferences with a remarkable nine schools in the top 50 of the latest NET rankings (including three in the top 20) – No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 13 Indiana, No. 23 Michigan State, No. 30 Nebraska, No. 31 Penn State, No. 32 Maryland, No. 44 Illinois and No. 49 Michigan. The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is the primary sorting tool used by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee for determining NCAA Tournament teams.

  • The Big Ten has three teams ranked, including two in the top five of this week’s Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll. Ohio State remains at No. 2, tying its highest ranking in program history. Iowa and Indiana are steady at No. 4 and No. 14, respectively.

  • The Big Ten has three programs featured in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Ohio State is steadfast at No. 2, its highest ranking this season. Iowa stays at No. 4 and Indiana falls four spots to check in at No. 16. Michigan State continues to receive votes.

  • In the latest Massey Ratings, the Big Ten owns the country’s top offensive power rating, while coming in second in the nation in strength of schedule for games played and third in strength of schedule for future games.

  • Offensive production continues to be the story for the Big Ten Conference as 10 different schools (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State) have scored 100 points in at least one game this season. Five Big Ten teams are averaging more than 80 points per game to ensure multiple national top 20 scoring offenses reside in the Big Ten, led by Iowa (1st – 91.8), Michigan State (5th – 84.3), Penn State (7th – 83.9), Ohio State (13th – 80.9) and Indiana (16th – 80.5).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (75.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.348), free throw percentage (.739), field goal percentage (.451) and assists (16.3 apg).

  • With a 1.66 assist/turnover ratio, Michigan State sits at No. 2 in the NCAA’s national statistical rankings. Iowa (7th – 1.54) and Indiana (10th –1.42) are also included in the top 10. Individually, DeeDee Hagemann (MSU) comes in third at 3.02.

  • The Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with five programs among the top 20, including three in the top 10, in field goal percentage. Indiana has the best mark in the country at 51.8 percent, followed by Iowa (3rd – .501), Penn State (7th – .489), Michigan State (12th – .479) and Ohio State (16th – .469). Indiana, Penn State, Iowa and Michigan State are also efficient from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers lead the nation with a 41.1 three-point percentage while the Lady Lions check in seventh at 38.3 percent. The Hawkeyes rank 16th with a 36.9 clip and the Spartans are converting at a 36.7 rate for 18th.

  • Big Ten teams have been passing the rock quite well this season as five programs rank in the top 25 in the country in assists, led by Iowa (1st – 21.0), Michigan State (9th – 18.9), Indiana (13th – 18.7), Ohio State (20th – 17.7) and Northwestern (23rd – 17.4). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (1st – 8.5 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (9th – 6.2 apg), Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (17th – 5.7 apg) and Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers (23rd – 5.4 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (876), points per game (32.4) and assists (229). Serah Williams (WIS) is averaging 2.96 blocks (6th) and 11.3 rebounds (8th) rebounds per game. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 65.6 percent from the floor to rank third in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) at 63 percent for sixth and Kendall Bostic (ILL) with a 61.8 clip to stand 10th. Mara Braun (MINN) has the second-best free throw percentage (95.0) in the nation.

  • The Big Ten has consistently ranked among the top three conferences in women’s basketball attendance for the past three decades and that trend has continued into the 2023-24 season. Currently, 11 Big Ten schools rank among the top 50 in the nation in average attendance, including six in the top 20, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (6th – 9,869), Maryland (9th – 7,612), Ohio State (11th – 7,090), Purdue (15th – 6,102) and Nebraska (16th – 6,021).

  • The Big Ten closed its non-conference slate with a combined 114-41 (.735) record. Big Ten teams dominated on their home courts with an 82-11 (.882) record. Among the 114 victories, five were over AP Top 25 opponents.

  • The 2023-24 schedule marks the most coverage on nationally distributed platforms in Big Ten women’s basketball history. Six Big Ten regular-season games will be televised on a broadcast platform, the most in conference history. NBC televised its first-ever Big Ten women’s basketball game on Jan. 21 when Ohio State upset Iowa and Peacock carried its first Big Ten women’s basketball broadcast on Jan. 2, a thriller between Michigan State and Iowa. The Ohio State-Iowa matchup on NBC and Peacock was the most-watched regular season women’s college basketball game on any network since 2010. Viewership peaked at 3.9 million viewers and the broadcast averaged 1.93 million viewers.

  • Nebraska’s win over Iowa on Feb. 11 averaged 1,772,000 viewers, making it the most watched women’s college basketball game ever on FOX.

  • The Penn State-Iowa matchup on Feb. 8 pulled 657,000 viewers, good for both the most watched women’s college basketball game on the Big Ten Network and the most watched live women’s sporting event ever on BTN.

  • The primetime battle on Feb. 3 between Iowa and Maryland averaged 1,578,000 viewers, the second-most watched women’s college basketball game in FOX’s history.  

  • The Jan. 27 outing between Nebraska and Iowa drew 421,000 viewers, making it the second-most watched women’s basketball broadcast in Big Ten Network history.

  • No. 16/13 Ohio State claimed a landmark non-conference 78-58 win at No. 20/22 Tennessee. It was just the second time in Tennessee’s history that the Lady Vols have lost in Thompson-Boling Arena by at least 20 points. Ohio State is only the second Big Ten Conference program to defeat Tennessee in Knoxville, joining Indiana. It was the first time in conference history that the Big Ten has posted multiple wins over Tennessee in back-to-back years – Ohio State and Indiana both claimed victories over the Lady Vols during the 2022-23 season – and has won five of its last six matchups with Tennessee.

  • No. 21/19 Indiana secured an impressive non-conference 71-57 victory over No. 19/21 Tennessee on Nov. 23. It was the second time in as many years that the Hoosiers have bested the Lady Vols and the largest margin of victory (14) in the four-game all-time series. Last year’s Hoosier win was the first time a Big Ten Conference school defeated Tennessee in Thompson-Boling Arena.